


How do you even lose someone so quickly?

by Salt_Queen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Kidnapping, Lotor's Princess Tropes, Pre-Canon, Rescue Missions, technically but just because canon doesn't matter if I write pre-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 20:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16103408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salt_Queen/pseuds/Salt_Queen
Summary: In which Lotor got kidnapped and the girls have to get him back.





	How do you even lose someone so quickly?

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't write this with canon in mind but you can read it that way if you like pain.  
> Can be read as shippy, but was also not written that way.

“How do you even _lose_ someone so quickly?” Zethrid knocked two pirates’ heads together as she growled at Ezor.

“I don’t know, one minute he was there and then I turned around and he just _wasn’t_!” She chirped, sending a volley of throwing knives flying for the group of outlaws that had just entered the hangar.

“Enough. We can talk about the fact that you got our boss captured _after_ we get him back.” Acxa was growing tired of their constant bickering, even if Zethrid had a point.

She had left Ezor alone with the prince for fifteen minutes while she scouted ahead, and she had returned to the sound of Ezor’s voice going on about one topic or other, fully expecting him to be leaning against a tree with a smirk, humouring her. When she arrived, however, he was nowhere in sight. Ezor insisted he had been standing close by only a minute ago.

Luckily, they all had hidden trackers in their suits for this exact scenario. They headed back to the ship and activated his to begin pursuit, the star charts indicating that his captors hadn’t taken him far _yet_. There was no time to waste, she would chew out Ezor later.

The pirates were most likely keeping him to sell out for ransom later. They likely didn’t know that Zarkon would be more willing to pay them for arranging a convenient accident that should rid him of his son once and for all.

They had to move fast. The second the Empire was contacted Lotor’s life would be forfeit.

Acxa would prefer to prevent that.

They had only been with Lotor for a few months but she couldn’t go back to the endless sneering from her peers, the looks they gave her, the insults. She couldn’t go back to being bottom-ranking forever. She couldn’t go back to working for the people that killed her mother.

Lotor… Lotor was different than the other commanders she had worked under, different in every way, and he held no love for his father or his empire. Granted, she had also never had _this_ happen to a commander she worked for, so what set him apart was possibly not entirely positive. It certainly made her job more difficult when her boss got kidnapped.

But he was one of them, he could change things for them, for people like them, maybe even for people like her mother.

He had saved Acxa’s life and she wouldn’t forget that.

None of that mattered, however, if he got killed by random outlaws looking for easy money.

Narti knocked the pirates barring the way to the control room into the wall with a powerful flick of her tail, storming in to take care of the rest of them, Ezor and Zethrid following quickly on her heels.

They made a good team, the four of them, five if you counted Lotor. They were able to play off each other’s strengths, so it was no surprise when it took little time until the bridge was fully under their control and Narti was pulling up the logs.

She signed _there’s a brig in the lower decks_.

“Let’s move.”

* * *

Acxa wondered where a group of unwashed pirates had found a state-of-the-art ship like this. The brig was massive, a broad corridor lined with steel doors, almost imperial standards.

It irked her, but she pushed the irritation down, focusing on the mission.

The cells, like seemingly everything on board, looked almost unused. The sheer number of them would prolong this process.

Acxa sighed. She had never seen Lotor complain about anything, but she was sure that _his Highness_ would be chewing her out once they found him.

Lotor wasn’t weak by any means, even if the empire would have her believe as much, but he was still a prince, if an estranged one, it seemed he needed them to protect him occasionally.

The thoughts kept circling in her head. What if they’d been too late, what if he was somewhere else entirely, what if…? She opened yet another door and took half a step inside.

Before she could blink something hard connected with her head and one of her blasters was yanked out of the holster and pressed to her temple, a hand in her hair holding her in place, all in the frame of barely two seconds.

“Stand down or die.” A familiar smooth voice spoke softly. “Call off your friends.”

“Lotor,” she whispered.

The hand in her hair receded and the gun lowered, allowing her to turn around.

“Acxa?” His confusion was evident.

He looked a little worse for wear, his hair dishevelled, a shallow cut on his neck, his breath coming in somewhat wheezing gasps, possibly a broken rib, a bruise appearing on his left cheekbone, a piece of cloth tied around his neck, seemingly a gag he yanked down, and around his wrists…

“Did you break out of those?” He looked a bit taken aback. “Sir,” she quickly corrected herself.

He looked down at his wrists and the mangled handcuffs, then quickly back at her. “Yes.”

They looked to be empire issued cuffs, nearly impossible to get out of, especially without practice. Lotor wasn’t incompetent but Acxa hadn’t expected him to have first-hand experience with these things. He seemed determined to continue to surprise her.

Narti, Ezor, and Zethrid appeared outside, likely attracted by the commotion. Ezor had the decency to look guilty.

“I was not expecting you… so soon,” he spoke, almost resigned. He straightened his back slightly, a cold smile returning to his features.

“The tracker did most of the work for us,” Zethrid said.

“Regardless, I appreciate your efficiency.” He rolled his shoulders and they popped slightly. “Shall we?”

* * *

Acxa stood at attention on the bridge. Lotor had left the med bay as soon as possible despite his two cracked ribs, residue of the drug they used to render him unconscious, a dislocated shoulder he had provisionally popped back in, and a few minor injuries.

The others had retired for the night, Ezor practically bolting out of the room once Lotor dismissed them, presumably to avoid Acxa’s scolding, but she felt the need to explain the team’s failure. It was her job to do so.

“Sir I—”

“You’re not at fault. Neither is Ezor.”

“But we—”

“Acxa, I chose you, in part, for your intellect. There was something wrong with this mission and you know it. Tell me what.”

That caught her off guard. “I…” She steadied herself. “It was too clean, too… professional for pirates, they didn’t harm you. And their ship, it was new.”

Lotor nodded, seemingly lost in thought. “It was a test. Someone wanted to see if you’d leave me to die if left to your own devices. You passed, evidently.”

Acxa’s eyes widened. The broken cuffs, the dislocated shoulder, the way he had managed to disarm her with practiced ease. He’d done it before.

She chose her next words carefully. “Who would… benefit from such information?”

Lotor looked at her for a long time. When Acxa thought she might just cave in under his piercing gaze he turned his attention back out to the endless void.

“I apologize, Acxa, but I do not yet trust you sufficiently to supply you with such information.”

It was understandable, he hadn’t known her for very long yet, she hadn’t truly expected him to answer. She gave a nod.

He looked back at her. “I ask that you remain vigilant and trust your instincts. If something strikes you as suspicious, the way this mission did, I want you to report to me immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lotor seemed satisfied with her answer, his gaze softening. “You are dismissed, take a break, it’s been a long day.”

She made her way to the door.

“And Acxa.”

She cast a glance over her shoulder. He was smirking at her.

“Thank you. For saving me.”

She smiled back, she was beginning to like him. “Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading  
> I thrive on validation so hit that Kudos button if you liked it ♥ and leave me a comment ☺  
> Come talk to me on [tumblr](https://myhyperfixations.tumblr.com/)


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